After Flowers for Your Grave
by ucsbdad
Summary: Just a little AU look at a possible change in the series premiere. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

After Flowers for Your Grave

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You guessed it. I don't own Castle. Rating: M, occasionally Time: See above.

"We're going to be great together."

Detective Kate Beckett bit her lower lip, then stood on her tiptoes, ran her lips briefly over his and then whispered in his ear.

"You have no idea."

**One year later.**

Kate felt a little self-conscious, standing there with the other drivers and holding her sign. But the other drivers paid her no attention and it was unlikely she'd run into anyone she knew at the airport. If she did, she had several cover stories prepared.

The first-class passengers debarked first and Castle was one of the first ones off. He stopped when he saw her and smiled. Then he noticed that she didn't smile back and then he saw the sign she held with the name Castle on it. Assuming a neutral look, he walked over to her.

"I'm Richard Castle. Are you my driver?"

She nodded, and in a breathless voice, said, "Yes, Mr. Castle. I'm here to take you…home."

He raised an eyebrow. "And your name is, Miss?"

"Beckett. Kate Beckett."

"Mike isn't driving me this time?"

"No, but don't worry. Mike couldn't give you the kind of…service I can."

"We should go pick up my luggage, I think."

"Don't worry, Mr. Castle. I'll handle…everything."

After getting his luggage, she led him to her car.

"Do you mind if I sit in the front seat with you, Ms. Beckett."

She pretended to consider it. "It isn't in accord with company rules, but you know the company's motto."

"The customer is always right?" Castle guessed.

"The customer always… comes first."

As they drove through the streets of Manhattan, Castle kept sneaking looks at Beckett. But she was staying completely in character and not saying a word. Castle decided he'd just play along with whatever she had in mind.

They pulled up in front of her apartment building.

"Excuse me, Ms. Beckett, but this isn't my place."

"But you'll find everything you want...inside."

As soon as they entered Beckett's apartment, she pushed him up against the door and kissed him. Not just any kiss, but a blinding, scorching magnificently erotic kiss. She threw both of her hands around his neck and rubbed her boobs against his chest. Then, she hooked one leg around his and rubbed herself against him.

He felt one hand leave his neck and opened one eye. She was taking off her jacket. Then she pulled her sweater over her head and threw it on the floor. She wasn't wearing a bra. She raised one leg to get a shoe off. He watched as her boobs swung enticingly. As she got the shoe off and reached for the other one, she looked up at him.

"Do I have to do all the work, Castle? Get undressed."

He managed to get his jacket off and threw it over the back of a chair. Then he began unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?" She cried, exasperatedly. She ripped his shirt open, scattering buttons everywhere. Then she pulled off his undershirt.

Satisfied that she'd gotten him properly started, she unbuckled her belt and pushed her pants over her slim hips and down her long, lithe legs. She had no panties on.

He was just standing there watching appreciatively.

"Castle!" She barked, then dropped to her knees, undid his pants and pulled them down.

"Lift your foot. "She ordered. He did so and she took off one shoe.

"The other one." There went the other shoe.

He stepped out of his pants, now wearing only his boxers. Those quickly were pulled down and off. He was hard, but not completely erect. She leaned forward and took his cock in her mouth.

"Beckett! It's been thirty-two days. If you don't stop now…"

She pulled her mouth off of him. He was fully aroused now. She grabbed him by his cock and pulled him to her bedroom.

She sprawled on the bed and pulled him down on top of her. He moved to slide down her body to start by kissing her boobs, and then planned to move lower to her pussy. She grabbed him and pulled him back up.

"Inside me. Now."

"Kate, I haven't seen you for…"

That was as far as he got. She threw one arm around his neck and used the other to grab his cock, then lifting her ass off of the bed, she impaled herself on him.

"My God but you're wet."

Using both of her arms, she pulled him down and kissed him. He felt her hard nipples and her soft breasts rubbing against his chest. Her legs wrapped around his hips and she bounced up and down as fast and as hard as she could.

He knew he wouldn't last long, but to his surprise she began to moan.

"So fucking good, Rick. So fucking good."

She pushed herself against him and moaned her climax. He soon followed. Her body softened and she relaxed, breathing deeply. He rolled off of her and pulled her to him.

"You're staying here for three days." She panted. "And you are never going on another thirty-two day long book tour. Never."

"Three days?" He said with a smile. "Suppose the building catches fire?"

"It wouldn't dare."

"You could come with me on a book tour, you know."

She shook her head.

"We can't let anyone know we're together."

"Look, that rule about colleagues not dating doesn't apply to us. I'm not NYPD and no one pays any attention to it anyway."

"No one pays attention unless something goes wrong."

"What could go wrong?"

"I'll tell you what could go wrong. You could keep talking while I'm waiting for round two. That would be very, very wrong."

He kissed the top of her head.

"Kate, we need to talk."

She pushed him away and leaped out of bed.

"We have to talk? Get the fuck out of here, Castle. Get out right now and don't ever try to see me again."

She turned around and ran to the bathroom, locking herself in.

He tried to follow.

"Kate? What's wrong? What did I say? Or do?"

He could hear her talking to herself inside.

"I knew it. I knew what he was like. He's a twice divorced playboy who lives on Page 6 with a different bimbo on his arm every night. I knew it but I told myself this might be different. But no, now he dumps me. He's probably had a different woman every night while he was gone."

He pounded on the door.

"Kate, I'm not breaking up with you."

She apparently didn't hear him since she went on talking to herself.

He raised his voice.

"Beckett, you're the most remarkable, maddening, exciting, infuriating, fascinating, frustrating woman I've ever met…No! Make that person I've ever met. I'm not breaking up with you."

There was silence for a few seconds, then the door opened. Kate was glaring at him.

"You're not dumping me?" She demanded.

"Of course not."

"Then why did you say, "We need to talk."? That's what every guy says when they want to dump you. That's what Kenny Davis said to me when he dumped me in sixth grade because I was five inches taller than he was and he said he couldn't even press his face into my boobs when we slow danced because he said I didn't have any. And those are the words Mike Roarke used in eighth grade…"

"Beckett! When I say we have to talk it means just that. We need to have a conversation. A discussion. A sharing of thoughts. I do not say that when I intend to break up with someone."

Kate put her arms around him and he hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Castle. I shouldn't have…" She stopped and he realized she was crying. Detective Kate Beckett never cried, he thought. Then he remembered when she'd had to kill Dick Coonan.

Castle gently led her back to the bed and covered them both with the duvet. She snuggled up against him.

"I almost turned you down when you asked me to dinner after the Tisdale murder, but then I thought that I deserved a good meal at the very least for putting up with you."

"Hey! I was a help. I brought the bad guy down, remember?"

"Being a help and being a pain in the ass are not mutually exclusive, Castle. Anyway, I was furious when you showed up at the precinct and announced you'd be following me around, without even asking me about it."

"If I'd asked you, you would have said no."

"Yes, I would have, but it's the principal of the thing. You should have asked. But, I was stuck with you and I knew there was just one way to get rid of you as quickly as possible."

"And that was…?"

"I'd have to sleep with you."

"You make it sound like a fate worse than death."

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I figured, a couple of weeks, maybe a month and you'd be tired of me and move on. And I'd get some good meals and adequate sex out of it."

"Adequate?" he cried. "Adequate!"

"Gotcha." She stifled a giggle. "But you kept coming around. A month passed and you were still around, and you were helping me. And, much to my initial anger, you found something about my mom's murder that I never found. You put up a hundred thousand dollars to catch him, and most importantly, to me, you said you were going to stop following me around because I had to kill Coonan to save you and the secret of who paid for my mom's murder died with him. Much against my will, I found I enjoyed being with you. Oh, I kept telling myself that it would never last, but there was always this hope that it would."

He kissed the top of her head.

"Kate, except for Kyra Blaine and Meredith, both of whom dumped me, I've always been able to see the end of a relationship after a month or two at the most. After a year with you I can't see an end with you. I don't know how this will work out, maybe you'll dump me and break my heart, but I want to take this to the end, whatever that is. Okay?"

She kissed him lightly. "Okay."

"Now, Detective Beckett, we need to talk, by which I mean we need to converse, exchange ideas, discuss things, and not breaking up."

"Agreed."

"Montgomery knows about us."

"What?" She yelled, hitting his chest with one finger. "Why did you tell him?"

"I didn't. He must have figured it out just like my mom and Alexis did." Castle knew he'd made a mistake.

"You let both of them know?" Her finger stabbed his chest again.

"No. I was coming home at four AM about two months after we got together. I was coming home at four because_ someone_ doesn't want me to stay the night because _someone_ doesn't want anyone to know we're together."

"Castle…" She said threateningly.

"Anyway, we were both sneaking in the back way and my mother asked me why I was sneaking in so late. I made up a story about a case we were working on that ran late. It was a really good story. I'm going to use it in the next Nikki Heat. There's a murder in an expensive penthouse of a famous art collector who was thought to be dead…"

"Castle." She glared at him.

"Okay, so about a month after that, Mother and I ran into each other in the wee hours, both sneaking in. I had an even better story this time, it was all about… "He looked over at Kate. "But that's not important. I told her the story and she replied, "Richard, I hope you aren't hiding your relationship with Katherine because you're ashamed that she's only a cop and not some society babe." And I said, at once, "Of course not. How could you think that?" And she just smiled at me and went to the elevator."

Kate just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"At least Martha hasn't told anyone. Or did she tell Alexis?"

"No, I came in one morning very early and found Alexis up, in her jammies, eating an ice cream sundae. She said she'd woken up with this craving for a sundae. She had chocolate fudge ice cream, cherry, the kind with real, whole cherries in it, cookies and cream, and chocolate chip mint. I had to join her, of course."

"Of course." Kate said sarcastically.

"So, I got out the cinnamon buns ice cream, the salted peanuts, the M&Ms, the butterscotch sauce…."

"Castle!" She said threateningly.

"We were sitting there eating and Alexis said to me, "You know, Detective Beckett is ten times better that any of those other women you've dated." And I said, "Ten times? I'd say a hundred times or a thousand." And then I realized she'd gotten me."

Kate shook her head, "How could you have done that?"

"It's very hard to put a numerical value on you, Detective Beckett. You're easily a hundred times better than anyone else I've dated, and a thousand seems reasonable as well. Ten thousand? I think I could…"

"Rick, how did Montgomery find out? Was he sneaking in after some scandalous liaison? Or did you find him eating ice cream in his jammies?"

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

After Flowers for Your Grave

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You guessed it. I don't own Castle. Rating: M, occasionally Time: See above.

"Neither." Castle said defensively. "The last day I was at the precinct, just before I left for the book tour…"

"The endless thirty-two day book tour." Kate corrected.

"I called you every night. I texted you. You texted back. We Skyped."

"None of which was like having you here."

Castle sighed. "I was so looking forward to saying good-bye to you, away from the precinct, but you had a body drop at the last second."

"A complete waste of our time." Kate said. "The perp had already confessed to the uniforms by the time Ryan, Espo and I got there."

"Anyway, after you left, Montgomery called me into his office and told me that if I ever hurt you, they'd never find the body. And he said he'd have plenty of help."

Kate snorted in derision. "If you hurt me, I'd make sure they'd never find the body."

Castle decided it was best to ignore that. "What do you think he meant? I'm pretty sure he meant Ryan and Espo know about us. And maybe Lanie. Do you think the whole precinct knows? The whole NYPD? All of New York City?"

"Castle, try to be serious. We need to figure out what to do now that Montgomery, at least, knows about us."

"Why? My lawyer has checked this out. I don't work for the NYPD. There's no way we can get in trouble for that no fraternization reg. And no one really pays attention to it anyway."

"They do if something goes wrong, or if someone pisses off the wrong people."

Castle frowned. "Who? Me?"

"Do you know why we get such good service from CSU, fingerprints, ballistics, and records?"

"Because you're the best homicide detective on the planet?"

She shook her head. "No, because everyone knows that Rick Castle can just call up his good friend the mayor to get what we need. So, rather than involve the mayor, the 12th's homicide cases get worked first, even if other precincts have to wait."

Castle grimaced. "And that makes the other precincts unhappy?"

"And when Richard Castle solves a murder, how many times does that make the front page?"

"Hey, I don't hog the headlines. I make sure I mention everyone, and I mean everyone, at the 12th, is mentioned when I talk to the press."

"Is that why your partner was referred to as Officer Kaye Bicket after the Hayley Blue murder?"

"I called the _Ledger_ and insisted that they correct it in the follow up story."

"Which they did, two days later in a two-paragraph article on page sixteen."

"Hayley Blue was a major pop star. Of course, her murder would make headlines."

"And so did Cano Vega's murder, as did the death of Bobby Mann and others. But the media seems to think you solved those all by yourself, with some help from Officer Kaye."

"And that upsets other precincts?"

"They close important murders as well, and other crimes. But no one pays attention to them."

"I can't very well tell them to stop writing about us. Freedom of the press, you know."

Kate nodded.

"And do you know what happens when Richard Castle solves another murder?"

"I'm afraid to ask."

"The Chief of Police calls up the mayor to let him know his friend has solved another one. The Chief likes to keep the mayor happy. And then the Chief calls up Captain Montgomery to let him know how happy he is and how happy the mayor is. And, Captain Montgomery, knowing how things work with One PP mentions that he's short a robbery detective and the Chief immediately sends one to the 12th Precinct, even though there are other precincts that have been waiting for months to fill vacancies."

"So everyone in the NYPD hates me?"

Kate nodded.

"Well, not quite. There is one homicide detective that kind of likes you."

"I'm glad you still like me."

"I was talking about Karpowski."

"So what should we do?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to confess to Captain Montgomery that we're a couple. And if the other precincts make a stink about it, we can point out that you are not a member of the NYPD and so the non-fraternization rule does not apply. Maybe if they complain enough, we won't get such good service, but we'll just have to see."

"You know what we need to do now?" He asked.

She just smiled.

"Of course." He grinned. "Oral sex!"

"Ha, Writer Boy. We need to work out exactly what we're going to tell Montgomery."

In spite of the fact that Kate had the day off, they arrived at 7:00 AM, knowing Captain Montgomery would be arriving soon. In fact, he was already in his office.

"Beckett. I didn't expect to see you here. Or you, Castle. Is there a problem?"

Kate had problems lying to her boss. "Um, yes, sir. Um, that is, Castle and I…We've kind of been…"

Rick, who was far better at fiction than Beckett, stepped in.

"What Beckett means to say is that we're dating. We're a couple."

Montgomery knew this, and knew that Castle knew that he knew. He had wondered just how Beckett was going to handle it.

"How long has this been going on?"

Beckett could say nothing.

"That's hard to say, Roy." Castle replied.

Montgomery gave then both a stern look.

"Oh? You're dating and you don't know when you started? Is your memory that bad?"

"Oh, no. It's just…Well, you may remember that when I started here, Beckett was a bit miffed at having me for a partner."

Kate turned and glared at the term "little bit miffed." She'd been furious and he knew it.

Castle went on.

"But she began to accept me as her partner. Shall we say a somewhat eccentric partner."

Kate remembered thinking he was a lunatic.

"After a while, we formed a sort of…Um, peaceful coexistence. And after that we sort of become friendly. And eventually, we became good friends. But still just friends. We'd eat lunch together, sometimes dinner, even go to the occasional movie. Then, just before my book tour, I kissed her goodnight after dinner and we just kept kissing. That led to…"

"There's no need to be graphic, Castle." Kate said.

"Anyway, while I was gone, we texted, Skyped, and talked. We decided this wasn't just a quick fling, that we both wanted a long term relationship. We felt we should tell you about it. I might mention that my lawyers have gone over the NYPD regulation on fraternization and their opinion is it doesn't apply to Kate and me, because I'm not a member of the NYPD."

Montgomery did his best to look stern.

"If you don't mind, I'll look into that myself. In addition, I expect you two do behave in a professional manner while you're working."

"That'll be no problem for me, Roy, but Kate can be…"

"It'll be no problem for me either, sir."

"Do any of the members of your team know about this, Beckett?"

"No, sir."

"Don't you think it would be better if they knew. We don't want rumors going around and if Ryan and Esposito know, they won't do any unnecessary speculating."

"Of course, sir. Do you know when they'll be in?"

"They had to make one stop before they reported." Montgomery said, knowing perfectly well that both Ryan and Esposito knew about Rick and Kate. "What about Dr. Parish? She's always been very concerned about your social life or lack of same."

"We'll go to the morgue right after we talk to Ryan and Esposito."

As soon as Rick and Kate left, Montgomery called both Ryan and Espo to let them know what to expect, then called Lanie.

"That was harder than I expected, Castle. Are you sure he knew?"

"Can you think of any other reason he'd threaten me if I hurt you?"

Kate shook her head.

"Here we go again. Beckett. The boys are here." He whispered in her ear. "Let me handle it."

"What are you two doing here?" Espo asked. "Is there a problem? A body drop? Something gruesome?"

"No, we just had to tell Captain Montgomery something, and thought we'd let you in on it, too."

"Okay, what is it?" Ryan asked.

"Beckett and I are dating. We're a couple."

"This Beckett?" Espo asked.

"Of course, this Beckett. Who else would I mean except Kate?"

"Wow! Her standards sure have…" Then Espo caught the start of a lethal Beckett glare. "…improved. Congratulations."

"Yeah. About time, you two."

Castle thought their performances were uninspired, but Beckett was too happy to have gotten that part of it over to notice.

"Now we have to go tell Lanie." She mumbled.

Lanie had known that something was going on with Beckett and Castle well before Montgomery had told her. Exactly what and how serious it was, she didn't know, but she had her hopes up.

Both were smiling when they entered the morgue, which gave Lanie hope. Then Castle put his arm around Kate's waist and pulled her close. Kate leaned against him.

"We have something to tell you." Castle said, grinning.

"What? That Kate can't stand up by herself?"

"Lanie!" Kate said. "Don't be silly. What we have to say is that we're together. We're a couple now."

"Really? Is this…" Lanie stopped, not wanting to suggest it was just a fling.

"This is real. We've been talking while Rick was on the book tour. We've decided we both want something long term. Something permanent and…"

Kate got no further as Lanie threw her arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Girl, it took you two long enough. I kind of suspected something was going on with you. You've looked awfully happy these last couple of months. I am so happy for you."

"For her? How about me?"

She turned to Castle. "If you hurt her, Writer Boy…"

"I know. I know. Kate's already told me, if I hurt her, she'll see to it that they never find my body. And Captain Montgomery, Ryan and Esposito will help."

"Wrong! If I get to you first, they'll be finding little pieces of your body all over Manhattan. As a warning to anyone who hurts Kate."

"Duly noted, but it won't be a problem."

"How many people know?" Lanie asked.

"You, Captain Montgomery, Ryan, Espo, Martha and Alexis. Plus we'll have to tell my dad. But that's all that can know. There's still the no fraternization rule, even if no one thinks it'll apply, but we don't want to test it and find out we're wrong."

"So you two are just going to fly under the radar?"

"Not exactly." Castle said. "I think it would be a good idea for Kate to come to a book signing or two. Let the fans see what the real Nikki Heat looks like. Build up some anticipation for the next book release."

"Castle! We haven't talked about that."

"I just thought about it. I think it's a great idea. And I'm sure Gina and Paula will agree."

Castle found that was not entirely correct.

"Rick, are you completely out of your mind?"

He looked at Gina, then at Paula, hoping to find some support from his agent. From the look on her face, he'd get none.

"No more that usual." He said with a smile.

"Do you know who your fans are?"

He frowned and pretended to think deeply.

"Richard Castle mystery fans?"

"Have you seen who comes to your book signings and readings?"

"Yes. I actually go to those myself, if I remember correctly."

"Women go to them. And they buy the majority of your books. No other mystery writer has so many female fans."

"So?"

"Each and every one of them, deep in their hearts, holds onto the fantasy that they'll be your one and only someday."

"Even the ninety-year old grandmothers? The suburban housewives with a husband, three kids and a dog named Snoopy? Really? They haven't noticed my marriage to you, apparently. I didn't notice my book sales dropping when we were married."

"Still, it's important to keep the fantasy alive for your female fans." Gina said. Paula nodded.

"I'm not announcing that Beckett and I are running away to an island in the South Pacific and never returning, you know. I simply think my fans would like to meet the real-life Nikki Heat." He smiled grimly. "And if I just happen to show up with her at the next book signing, there's nothing you can do about it. I, and my lawyers, looked over this very carefully. I can show up with a date. I have in the past. In fact, none of the ladies I arrived with ever seemed to drive my other female fans away."

"Harlow's." Paula suddenly said.

"Harlow's?" Rick asked.

"The book store. It specializes in mysteries. It's perfect. It's small, out of the way and in a kind of sketchy neighborhood. It's over a hundred years old. In fact, Dashiell Hammett used to drop by every once in a while, back in the day, although he was usually drunk. If it's a total disaster, the disaster will be so small no one will notice. We can see to it that no one notices."

"Harlow's it is." Rick said.

When Rick came home, Kate was waiting for him.

"How did it go?" She was half hoping that Gina and Paula had talked Rick out of it.

"Fine." He said with a smile. "We're going to Harlow's, a mystery book store in a week. Next Thursday to be exact. Have you decided what you're going to wear?"

When Thursday came, Kate was nervous. And the closer the town car got to Harlow's, the more nervous she became.

"Relax. You're going to do fine. This isn't like facing down a killer, you know."

Kate gave him a look.

"I know how to face down a killer."

If Gina and Paula had hoped that the small size of Harlow's and its location would keep people away, they were wrong. By the time Rick and Kate arrived, there was a line out the door and down the street. The store itself was jammed. Rick noticed that the vast majority of the fans who came out were women.

The two pushed their way into the store and found Paula and Gina, and the table that had been set up for them to sign the books.

"What's that?" Rick asked, pointing to a section that had been roped off. In the section were coffee urns and plates of pastries.

"We thought your fans might like a little something after they get their books signed." Gina said.

"I see that you have several young ladies from Black Pawn in there. Are you hoping to get some negative feedback from having Kate here to use against me?"

"Of course not. We just want to get the fans' reactions." Gina lied smoothly.

Rick called for silence and announced that both he, and the real-life Nikki Heat, would be signing books that night. And with that, they sat down and began signing.

Many hours later, the last satisfied fan left and the doors were closed.

"How did we do?" Rick asked.

Gina had just gotten through talking to the women who'd been keeping an eye on the fans who had been enjoying coffee and pastries.

"You win, Rick. The comments were overwhelmingly positive. They think she's lovely, intelligent, caring and concerned, and that you two should be a couple. Satisfied?"

Rick managed to keep from gloating in front of Kate.

"Satisfied? Perfectly."

Back in the car, he pulled Kate close to him.

"Labor Day weekend is coming up. Alexis is going off to some kind of college thing at Princeton and my mother is…Well, she won't be around. Why don't we go to the Hamptons by ourselves for the weekend?"

Kate smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'd love to. But…." She left the rest of the sentence hanging.

"But?"

"When I thought you were breaking up with me you said I was maddening, infuriating, and frustrating. Just what did you mean by that, Mr. Castle?"

Castle just groaned.

The End

**Author's note: I'm busy writing Deadly Planet, a military sci fi story involving some characters you may have met before****?****. It's not related to any of my other military stories. It'll be done….When I'm done writing it.**


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